In letter to 460,000 employers, Department of Labor touts Cuomo's record

A state Department of Labor letter sent out in recent days to 460,000 employers in New York about a 50 percent cut in an unemployment insurance assessment also touts Gov. Andrew Cuomo's record as he seeks re-election, saying his policies helped put "New Yorkers back to work."

Some businesses balked at the letter, obtained by Gannett's Albany Bureau, saying the letter shouldn't be offering an assessment of the Cuomo's tenure. They said they are still struggling with high taxes and fees.

Mike Durant, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said the letter rightly alerts business owners that the unemployment surcharge -- first implemented during the recession to pay back the federal government for soaring unemployment claims -- is dropping as part of reforms last year by Cuomo and the state Legislature.

But Durant said the letter is a bit much.

"We think it’s working, and we’re optimistic that this will be the last year that businesses will receive this surcharge," Durant said. "That said, the letter really shows, I think, the discontent between government and employers. There’s too much spin and there’s too much backslapping in the letter."

The state Labor Department defended the letter, which details, in addition to explaining the unemployment assessment, the declining unemployment rate under the Democratic governor, saying the 6.7 percent unemployment rate in May was the lowest since December 2008.

"The governor's economic development policies have played a large role in putting New Yorkers back to work by helping to create over 440,400 jobs -- the second most net new private sector jobs in the nation since the recession," the letter said.

The letter, dated July 11, was sent out on state letterhead and signed by Labor Commissioner Peter Rivera, a former state assemblyman from the Bronx who Cuomo appointed to the post in 2012.

The Labor Department said no additional mailing costs were associated with the letter, and it merely aims to provide an update to employers about the unemployment insurance reforms.

The state is paying back the interest and the principal on more than $2 billion it borrowed from the federal government to cover unemployment claims that soared dating back to 2008. The Labor Department is required by law to install the Unemployment Insurance Interest Assessment to pay back the federal government.

The rate has been steadily dropping each year, and this year's rate is dropping from .15 percent to .07 percent of payroll, and the maximum amount most employers will pay is $5.95 per employee, down from $12.75 in 2013. Other reforms last year are expected to the unemployment fund solvent and prevent future deficits.

The Labor Department says there has been significant interest in the issue from employers, and it received nearly 10,000 phone inquiries last year about the unemployment assessment.